To be fair that's not really true. Gatekeeper is deeply integrated into the OS and is extremely strict.

As opposed to windows, macOS will effectively refuse to run any software that is not signed and notarized by Apple themselves.

I'm not a fan of this behaviour but that's the way it is.

Is there a way to send and receive SMS and send/receive phone calls through a computer? Like if I wanted to ditch a phone for a cyber deck could I? And just use like a mobile hotspot for Internet?

As an Australian, do I have anything I can do to help make sure that these regulations are implemented?

If you pay for a device, you should be able to do whatever you want with it. Apple having so much control over it means that you don't fully own it.

jmp.chat

I used this service breifly a while ago. Not enough to say whether it's good or not, but I remember it working just fine.

Unpopular opinion, but if I wanted multiple app stores (and all the associated benefits and risks) then I would have opted for an Android.

The walled garden approach works for me, and I don’t want to be inconvenienced and my data put at risk because a particular, necessary app is only available through a 3rd party platform.

Now, Apple being forced to reduce the % of app sales down from 30% to a more reasonable number I am all for.

I use F-droid to get my open source apps. Much more trustworthy than Google play. It's my first stop for anything I'm looking for.

Happy cake day!

I'd be happy for the Australian government to take them to task over this one. But I'm afraid you've fallen for Murdoch propaganda with the journalism thing.

They weren't "using our journalism". They provide a direct benefit to the news organisations. It's a mostly symbiotic relationship, with people going to Google and Facebook because it's a good way to find news that interests them, and news organisations being funnelled traffic directly to them for free. But honestly, if money should be flowing in any direction, it's to Google and Meta. The financial benefit for news organisations of the existing relationship is far greater for news organisations than it is for Google and Meta. People would still be Googling things and sharing on Facebook even if news didn't make up part of that.

Jeff Jarvis is a great thinker and communicator in this space, and he moderates a great discussion on the topic here. About 34 minutes into the video they hear from a QUT professor who is pretty scathing towards the NMBC.

You are missing the point. If you want to remain in the Apple infrastructure exclusively, nobody is forcing you not to. Those who want options will have them. So enjoy your walled garden all you want, and let each user decide if they want to keep being tools or not.

But… something something security and something something not a monopoly… am I doing this anti-consumer white knight thing right?

jmp.chat

I used this service breifly a while ago. Not enough to say whether it's good or not, but I remember it working just fine.

I respectfully disagree.

If I’m out at a restaurant with app-based ordering, or my Real Estate agent requires payment through their gateway, or to track my utilities usage, or am required to use any other number of niche apps that become only available through alternate app stores? Then I very well risk being put in a situation where I am otherwise forced to.

Let alone the headaches that will inevitably come from the older, less technologically savvy, and more vulnerable having their default app stores highjacked, and spoof apps stealing their credentials/credit cards.

Then we get into the more general issues of allowing unsigned code to be loaded and run on our smartphones - it will lead to the era of viruses, Trojans and ransomware.

I am reminded of this piece that Last Week Tonight did on Encryption, which is quite cogent given the topic at hand.

Best security practices involve minimising the number of places your sensitive (financial) data is stored. If a website doesn’t accept a known and reputable intermediary like Apple Pay, PayPal or a BNPL provider - I would refrain from using it.

If this is something that you want - then go ahead and Jailbreak your iPhone, or get an Android - more power to you; but please stop trying to enshittify iOS.

You can also use an immutable Linux distro (SteamOS being the most popular) and install software with flatpak, which is sandboxed using bubblewrap.

Thanks.

Really appreciate you taking the time to explain that. Unfortunately the journalism issue is one of those that I haven't had a chance to look into. I like to think I'm aware of the Murdoch propaganda (and the other major "news" outlets here) but there's still clearly some topics which don't register as problematic until I dig into them.

If this were to happen it would have happened on Android a long time ago but it didn't.

The EU like any large government is filled with people of varying quality. Some of them are absolutely amazing at their jobs and some of them can barely operate at light switches.

Normally whenever some dumb tech related regulation comes in you usually find it's being pushed by the idiots. You can usually tell by reading the text of the legislation and by the end of it you will have come up with about 300 problems.

A good example of this is reading the Tracking Cookies legislation (bad) and the GDPR legislation (good), the difference in the size of the text of the bill is visually apparent.

I respectfully disagree.

If I’m out at a restaurant with app-based ordering, or my Real Estate agent requires payment through their gateway, or to track my utilities usage, or am required to use any other number of niche apps that become only available through alternate app stores? Then I very well risk being put in a situation where I am otherwise forced to.

Let alone the headaches that will inevitably come from the older, less technologically savvy, and more vulnerable having their default app stores highjacked, and spoof apps stealing their credentials/credit cards.

Then we get into the more general issues of allowing unsigned code to be loaded and run on our smartphones - it will lead to the era of viruses, Trojans and ransomware.

I am reminded of this piece that Last Week Tonight did on Encryption, which is quite cogent given the topic at hand.

Best security practices involve minimising the number of places your sensitive (financial) data is stored. If a website doesn’t accept a known and reputable intermediary like Apple Pay, PayPal or a BNPL provider - I would refrain from using it.

If this is something that you want - then go ahead and Jailbreak your iPhone, or get an Android - more power to you; but please stop trying to enshittify iOS.